My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
I and my Father are one.
A light went on in my soul - what I now know was the Holy Spirit illuminating God's truth to my heart - and I understood that Jesus was speaking to me telling me that he GAVE me eternal life from which I would never perish, never to be plucked from his hands and that I could KNOW I had eternal life through faith in Him. I realized then and there that what I had been told all my life by the Catholic Church about going to heaven was NOT the truth and I also KNEW that I had no desire to go back to it. I certainly had the freedom to if I wanted, but I did not want to. Everything since then that I have learned about the Catholic religion only reinforces that I made the right decision.
When anyone wants to know "why do Catholics leave", my answer is that some realize the truth of the Gospel - the real Gospel - and returning back to Catholicism is unthinkable. I have never regretted my decision and my walk with Christ only grows stronger the more I live for and learn of Him.
Thank you for your testimony, bb. God gave you the gift of discernment at a young age. Bless you. You are one of Christ’s own FOREVER!
Amen